Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Seafood

Shortcut Hokkien Prawn Noodles

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To Cook
In a big pot, add oil and stir-fry prawn heads until aromatic.
Add water and paste into pot and bring to boil.
Add spare ribs and cook on medium heat for 30 mins. Remove spare ribs.
Cook prawns in the soup and remove prawns when fully cooked.
In a separate pot of boiling water, blanch the bean sprouts until cooked. Drain and set aside.
Blanch the water spinach until cooked. Drain and set aside.

To Serve
Place rice vermicelli and yellow noodles into serving bowls, top with hot soup.
Add bean sprouts, water spinach, egg, spare ribs and prawns. Garnish with fried shallots.

Shortcut Singapore Noodles

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To Make Egg Sheets
Heat oil in a pan and pour in ½ of the beaten eggs.
Pan-fry until done. Remove and set aside. Repeat.
Once cool, cut into long thin slices.

To Cook
Heat oil in a wok. Pan fry firm tofu until browned, set aside.
Heat some oil again in the wok and stir-fry chicken until cooked. Add roasted barbeque pork, carrot, capsicum and stir-fry for 2 mins. Add in the prawns and stir-fry for 1-2 mins. Add in fried tofu back into the wok.
Add rice noodles and the ready sauce for Singapore noodles. Stir well and heat through.
Sprinkle with shredded egg on top when ready to serve.

Vietnamese Summer Salad

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To Make Dressing
Combine all ingredients in a screw top jar and shake.

To Make Salad
Place noodles in a small heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Set aside for 5 mins to soften. Drain well.
Reserve 12 prawns for garnish. Roughly chop remaining prawns. Combine vermicelli, chopped prawns, snow pea sprouts, carrot, cucumber, radish, peanuts, shredded mint and coriander in a bowl.
Heat oil in a frying pan over medium high heat. Add rice paper sheets one at a time, cook until puffed and white. Drain on paper towel.
Add dressing to salad, toss gently to coat. Place rice paper sheets on a plate, fill with salad, top with reserved prawns, garnish with extra mint and coriander leaves.

Crab with Tamarind and Chilli (Cua Rang Muoi)

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To Prep
Mix the sauce ingredients and set aside.

To Cook
In a wok, heat oil over high heat and fry crab pieces in batches for 2-3mins. Remove and drain on paper towels.
In a clean wok, heat 1 tbsp of oil over high heat and sauté the chopped garlic for 15-20 secs. Add in onion and chilli, cook until onion is translucent.
Pour the sauce mixture into the wok and bring to boil, then simmer reduce the liquid slightly until sticky.
Add in the crab pieces and herbs, toss for 5 mins to coat evenly and heated through. Serve hot.

Salted Egg Yolk Crabs

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To Cook
Crack and beat egg in a medium sized bowl. Dip crab pieces in the egg, and then coat with tapioca starch.
Heat oil over high heat in deep wok to about 180°C. Deep-fry coated crab pieces for approximately 2 minutes or until just cooked through. Set aside.
Mash cooked salted egg yolks with a fork or in food processor. Set aside.
Remove deep friend oil from the wok and melt 2 tbsp butter in wok. Add curry leaves and chilli (if using) and saute for about 30 seconds. Then add sugar, chicken powder and evaporated milk.

Stir Fried Prawns in Tomato Sauce

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To Prep
Remove veins from the prawns. Snip off the pointed ends on the heads and tails. Trim off legs.

To Cook
In a large frying pan, heat 2 tbsp of oil, sauté onions until fragrant and soft. Season with ½ tsp salt and 2 tbsp tomato sauce, set aside.
Heat another 4 tbsp of oil and fry prawns over high heat. When prawns are cooked, remove from pan and set aside.
In the same pan, heat remaining 2 tbsp of oil and fry chopped spring onions and ginger until fragrant. Add in tomato sauce and cook until the sauce turns bright red. Add cooking wine, salt, sugar, cooked prawns and water, cook on low heat for about 2 mins.
Add in the onions and thicken with corn flour mixture. Lastly add sesame oil and chilli oil (optional). Stir well and transfer to serving plate. Garnish with spring onions and chilli, serve.

Ipoh Kuey Teow Soup (Kai Si Hor Fun)

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To Cook
Heat up 4 L of water in a large pot and bring to a boil over a high heat before adding the prawns and cooking for 2 mins. Remove the prawns from the pot and set aside.
In the same pot, add in the carcasses, pork bones, drumsticks and the white peppercorns. Return to a boil before reducing to a simmer and cooking for 2 hrs.
While the broth simmers, remove the heads from the prawns and cook the prawn heads in a pan with vegetable oil over a medium-high heat.
Continue to cook until the shell has become crispy and the oil has taken the colour of the prawn before removing from the heat and filtering the oil to use. Set aside.
When the drumsticks have become tender, remove them from the pot and remove the meat from the bone and set aside.
In a pot of water, blanch the chives until the begin to wilt before settings aside. Add the noodles in to the pot to cook as per the instruction before also removing from the pot and setting aside.
Add the salt in to the broth and mix until dissolved. Add more if necessary before removing from the heat to plate.

To Serve
In a serving bowl, add the noodles, chives, chicken drumstick meat and prawns and ladle the soup stock over it.
Finish by garnishing with fried shallots, sliced coriander and drizzle with the prawn oil.
Serve with a small bowl of the dipping sauce by combining the dipping sauce ingredients together and mixing.

Japanese Prawn Fritters with Shiso and Salted Plum (Prawn Shinjo-Age)

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To Prep
Process the prawn flesh together with salt and sake in a food processor until you get a smooth paste.
Transfer to a mixing bowl and mix in the grated mountain potato, onion, egg, and potato flour.
Mix the ingredients well then chill the mixture in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

To Cook
You’ll need an oil or candy thermometer for this as the frying temperature is key to getting a well fried fritter.
Heat up enough oil in a wok to 170°C. Shape the prawn mixture into balls and roll in the shiso leaves.
Drop the balls into the heated oil and deep-fry until the prawn is cooked all the way through. You’ll also want the shiso leaves to be crispy, but still retain their color.
Remove the seeds from the umeboshi and finely chop the flesh. Serve the prawn fritters with the chopped umeboshi flesh.

Thai Noodles with Pork (Pad Mama)

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To Cook
In a hot wok, add oil and then the garlic, stir until fragrant.
Add the pork, stir-fry until white. Add the egg, stir-fry until softly scrambled. Add the vegetables and mix well. Add the seasoning ingredients and stir-fry.
Add the noodles and chilli powder (optional), stir-fry for about 2 mins. Serve with lime and prawns, garnish with parsley.

Japanese California Rolls

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To Cook
While rice is hot, add sugar and rice vinegar and cool.
Place a sheet of seaweed along the bottom of the bamboo sushi mat.
Firmly press ¾ cup of rice onto the mat covering ⅔ of the seaweed. Place a line of mayonnaise along the rice about 2cm from the bottom.
Place on top of each other a row of crab sticks and avocado.
Placing both hands under the bottom of the mat at either end, proceed to roll up the seaweed ensuring the first full roll encloses all of the ingredients. Roll as tightly as possible.
Wrap in cling wrap and place in refrigerator for 15 mins before cutting. When slicing, use a very sharp knife, pierce the seaweed and then slice. Use a hot cloth to wipe the knife between slices.
Serve this Japanese California Rolls with a dish of soy sauce, wasabi and pickled ginger.

Three Friends Spring Onion Rolls (Tam Huu)

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To Prep
Combine pork with marinade ingredients and mix well. Marinade at least 5 mins. Set aside
Combine prawn with marinade ingredients and mix well. Marinade at least 5 mins. Set aside.
Combine all dipping sauce ingredients and mix well. Set aside.

To Cook
In a frying pan, heat oil over medium high heat and stir-fry pork for 2 mins. Add the prawns and stir-fry until cooked through. Add black pepper and stir well before turning off the heat.

To Assemble
For each strand of spring onion leaf, place mint and coriander on the green edge. Top with a piece of pork and prawn, and a slice of chilli, wrap around the group of ingredients with the rest of the spring onions and tuck in the end section.
Place on serving plate and serve with dipping sauce.